Platypus have returned to Sydney’s Royal National Park for the first time in five decades as part of a state-first translocation program.
Five female platypus have been released into the national park south of Sydney, and four males will follow in the coming week after the quartet establish their territory.
The relocated platypus were collected from southern NSW to promote genetic diversity and brought to Sydney’s Taronga Zoo, where they underwent veterinary health checks and were fitted with transmitters before release.
The Royal National Park – Australia’s first official national park – has not been home to the native egg-laying mammals for 50 years after becoming locally extinct….